Champions

Posted on March 9, 2023 at 5:30 pm

B-

Lowest Recommended Age:	High School
MPAA Rating:	Champions is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for strong language and crude/sexual references
Profanity:	Very strong language for a PG-13
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking and drunkenness
Violence/ Scariness:	Some peril
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters:	March 10, 2023

(L to R) Alex Hintz as Arthur, Casey Metcalfe as Marlon, Matthew von der Ahe as Craig, Ashton Gunning as Cody, Tom Sinclair as Blair, Joshua Felder as Darius, James Day Keith as Benny, Madison Tevlin as Cosentino, Kevin Iannucci as Johnathan, and Bradley Edens as Showtime in director Bobby Farrelly’s CHAMPIONS, a Focus Features release. Credit : Courtesy of Focus Features

I have always been impressed by the commitment of the writer/director Farrelly brothers to including performers with disabilities in their movies — and for giving their characters great roles, sometimes funny or raunchy but never treated with anything but respect. Those who skip the credits at the end of “Stuck on You” will miss a very touching speech at the wrap party from Ray ‘Rocket’ Valliere. In “Champions,” Bobby Farrelly’s film, Woody Harrelson plays Marcus, a hot-headed college basketball coach sentenced to community service, coaching a team of people with disabilities. While it has all the expected underdog team with a coach who needs redemption beats, it is done with a good heart and a sense of humor.

Marcus understands the game of basketball very well. He knows the strategy and the skills it takes to win. People, life, basic requirements of being an adult, not so much. We see him being extremely rude to a woman he clearly does not know but has just had, apparently satisfying sex with. Her name is Alex (Kaitlin Olson), and while Marcus is happy to see her go, flipping the bird on the way out, we are already looking forward to seeing her again.

Marcus loses his job as an assistant coach, gets drunk, and drives into a police car. See what I meant about missing the basic skills of adulting? That’s how he ends up sentenced to 90 days of coaching the Friends, a team of young people with disabilities, including Johnny (gracefully played by Kevin Iannucci, who has Down syndrome). If you think that this is one of those movies where the people who are seen as less capable end up teaching the “normie” some important lessons, you’ve got that right. That doesn’t make it unsatisfying, though, because it all plays out with sincerity. It does not condescend to the characters with disabilities or try to make them saintly, giving them most of the one-up-ing punchlines and showing us their confidence. It gives at least one of them a bit of a character arc. But some viewers may find the portrayals reductionist and overly cute-sy.

But they’ve got Cheech running the community center where the Friends play, and it’s always good to have Cheech on board. Second, Harrelson is quite good at all of the frustration, and Olson gets to play a character who is not a hot mess, like the ones she plays on “Hacks” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” Her warmth and strong presence, and her excellent chemistry with Iannucci are the heart of the film.

Parents should know that this movie has some mature material, beginning with a frank if not explicit description of a one-night stand via an app, strong language for a PG-13, some mild peril and tense confrontations, drinking and drunkenness. The theme of inclusion is worth discussing.

Family discussion: Why didn’t Johnny want to tell Alex about his plans? Does this make you think differently about people with disabilities in your life?

If you like this, try: “The Ringer,” also from Farrelly

Coming Soon: El Deafo!

Posted on January 7, 2022 at 10:00 am

Coming to AppleTV+, based on the best-selling book and real-life story, the new animated series “El Deafo” is the story of a girl who is hearing-impaired and the inner superhero she channels.

Something Different for Award Shows

Posted on April 5, 2021 at 8:00 am

Same old, same old in all of the award shows, the Golden Globes, the Oscars, SAG? Try these awards, maybe less glamorous, but more likely to lead you to great movies you might have missed.

Sound of Metal

Posted on November 19, 2020 at 5:31 pm

A-

Lowest Recommended Age:	Mature High Schooler
Profanity:	Very strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drug addiction
Violence/ Scariness:	Some graphic images of an operation
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters:	November 20, 2020

We’re going to have to come up with a better term than POV to describe “Sound of Metal,” the story of a drummer who loses his hearing. POV describes a subjective portrayal, where we see just what the character sees instead of what an outsider can see. But “see” is the operative word. Much of “Sound of Metal” is subjective, so that we hear only what Ruben (brilliantly played by Riz Ahmed) is hearing. Many of the sounds are muted or distorted. Some of the movie is in silence. Sometimes we get a brief chance to hear what he cannot. There are subtitles in some moments but not in others so we can experience Ruben’s sense of confusion and isolation.

This is a remarkably assured debut from co-writer/director Darius Marder and his co-writer/composer/brother Abraham Marder. In an interview with me and a small group of other journalists, Darius Marder said making music the center of Ruben’s life was appealing because music connects people and because hearing loss is both a personal and professionally devastating for a musician. But he also said that music serves as a metaphor for relationships. We all have our own place within a relationship,” Darius said. “I play the drums and you play guitar and together we make this music. But what are we if we start pulling those sounds apart? If you leave, what is left? Abraham and I were both inspired by the concept of using this two-person band as a metaphor for a relationship. Even though it is steeped in a very specific music world, the intention was for it to be universal in
feeling.”

The Marders trust the audience to lean in to the film, to not need to have every detail explained in advance. So we gradually learn that Ruben is a former heroin addict, who has been clean for four years with the support of his girlfriend and bandmate Lou (Olivia Cooke) and his utter devotion to music. We can see from the performance that leads off the film that Ruben gives everything he has to the raw emotion of the punk/metal music he and Lou play.

And then, suddenly, he hears a pop and then sounds are muffled and distorted. A doctor tells him it may be a result of the heroin use and that it isn’t coming back.

It’s just like the Elizabeth Kubler-Ross stages for impending death. The first stage is denial. Ruben plays another gig. He is sure he can fix this. But he can’t. Lou takes him to a rehab program for addicts with hearing loss led by Joe (played by Paul Raci, the son of Deaf parents). The program is attached to a school for Deaf children and at first Ruben is put in class with them to learn to sign.

The Marders show us in an understated way that Ruben’s addictive personality has just transferred from drugs to music and Lou. Away from both, he is lost. He learns to sign and begins to be a part of the new community but he is determined to get back what he lost, at any cost.

Ahmed, Cooke, and Raci all give understated, natural performances that draw us into the story even more than the immersive sound design. Much of Ahmed’s performance is in his deep, expressive eyes, making Ruben one of the most memorable characters on screen this year.

Parents should know that this movie includes very strong language and discussion of substance abuse. There are some graphic images in a scene of an operation.

Family discussion: What will Ruben do next? Did he make the right decision about the operation? Why does Joe insist that Deaf people do not need to be “fixed?”

If you like this, try: “One Trick Pony”

New Oscar Diversity Qualifications Announced

Posted on September 8, 2020 at 8:28 pm

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced new diversity requirements for films that want to be eligible for Oscar awards.

Oscar hopefuls will have to meet a new set of inclusive hiring standards in order to qualify for Best Picture, an effort the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hopes will lead to greater diversity and representation both onscreen and behind the scenes.

It’s part of the Academy Awards’ ongoing response to criticism over its lingering lack of diverse nominees. The outcry became particularly intense five years ago when the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite forced a reckoning within the organization. Since that time, leadership of the Academy has tried to improve diversity within its voting body and encourage positive discussions within the industry, but this new set of guidelines is aimed at making it mandatory for contenders to be more inclusive of those who have traditionally been marginalized in Hollywood.

The policies will only become mandatory for the 96th Academy Awards in 2024, which will give would-be contenders three years to make sure they meet at least two of the four categories below that are designated A, B, C, and D.

STANDARD A: ON-SCREEN REPRESENTATION, THEMES AND NARRATIVES
To achieve Standard A, the film must meet one of the following criteria:

A1. Lead or significant supporting actors — At least one of the lead actors or significant supporting actors is from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group.

• Asian
• Hispanic/Latinx
• Black/African American
• Indigenous/Native American/Alaskan Native
• Middle Eastern/North African
• Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander
• Other underrepresented race or ethnicity

A2. General ensemble cast — At least 30% of all actors in secondary and more minor roles are from at least two of the following underrepresented groups: